Performance: by two former Takarazuka performers, who used to play a ‘female-role’ and a ‘male-role’ respectively.

A discussion session will follow the film and the performance.

Since its inception in 1914, the all-female musical/revue company Takarazuka Revue has been enormously popular among the female audience in Japan. The company stages heterosexual romances often set in Western countries, and a female performer specialises either in a “male role” or a “female role.” Scholarly research on Takarazuka has been conducted both within and outside of Japan, but there is a gap between perspectives on gender and sexuality within and outside of Japan; researchers in Japan tend to critique the “Western” approaches, which, in their view, focuses too much on sexuality. This event aims at providing an opportunity to cultivate cross-cultural understanding of Takarazuka. The screening of Dream Girls (1994), the documentary of the Takarazuka Revue, directed by British female documentary makers Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, is followed by the discussion session led by Dr. Nobuko Anan at Birkbeck College and short performance by two former Takarazuka performers, each of whom used to be a “female-role player” and a “male-role player” respectively. Jano Williams will join the discussion session. To attend this event please RSVP:http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/japans-all-female-takarazuka-revueconsidering-gendersexuality-from-cross-cultural-perspectives-tickets-10956811117

This event is co-hosted by Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image, The Japan Foundation, and The Centre for Media, Culture and Creative Practice. There is a similar event in the evening of 27 June at the Japan Foundation. Please visit their website for the information.

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